Del Toro Will Co-Direct 'Pinocchio' After 'Pacific Rim'; Then What?

By
Sophia Savage
|
Thompson on HollywoodMay 10, 2012 at 4:20PM

Guillermo Del Toro's "Pacific Rim" (now in post, and expected to be of epic robots vs. aliens proportions) will hit theaters in summer 2013, and while he has a slew of other projects in development as either writer, producer, exec producer and/or director, there are big question marks over which projects will actually see the light of day.

Guillermo Del Toro's "Pacific Rim" (now in post, and expected to be of epic robots vs. aliens proportions) will hit theaters in summer 2013, and while he has a slew of other projects in development as either writer, producer, exec producer and/or director, there are big question marks over which projects will actually see the light of day with the "Pan's Labrynth" director at the helm.

Not so "Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio," which he's confirmed to be co-directing with Mark Gustafson ("The Fantastic Mr. Fox"'s animation director), marking his first foray into stop-motion animation. The 3-D "Pinocchio," housed at the Jim Henson Company, is eyeing a Summer 2013 start to a year-long shoot. While Del Toro's been developing the project since 2008, he was not on board to direct until now. The director tells Variety that the complexity of the project helped to gradually change his mind; "Little by little, I realized that I should direct."

Del Toro developed the story with Matthew Robbins and Gris Grimly, who was previously co-directing; Robbins handled the script. With Del Toro now attached as director, Inferno Entertainment will likely do some successful shopping at Cannes. More details at Variety.

Del Toro helped to write the upcoming pair of Peter Jackson's "Hobbit" tales (he passed the directing reins to Peter Jackson), and among the projects has been linked to as director are: Universal's "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde," Warner Bros.'s "Beauty and the Beast" (with Emma Watson attached), Warner Bros.'s Roald Dahl adaptation "The Witches," "Saturn at the End of Days" (with co-producers Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu). Sadly, Del Toro says his 13-years-in-development "At the Mountains of Madness" project (which had Tom Cruise attached) is probably killed because of its similarities with "Prometheus." Here's what he had to say last year about "Rim" and "Mountains," and some great soundbites from his participation in last year's Comic-Con panel for "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" (which he wrote and produced).